In his case, that
effort resulted in his career first win on the Deery Brothers Summer Series circuit and a check for
$7,500.

Bruening led all 50
laps of the IMCA Late Model tour main event Saturday at Farley Speedway’s Yankee Dirt Track Classic, holding off
Denny Eckrich by less than a carlength at the checkers.

Ray Guss, Jr.
goes under Luke Goedert on his way to fourth place at Farley Speedway.(Darrel
Unzel)

“I couldn’t believe
I won it,” he admitted. “This is definitely the biggest win of my career. It makes all the hard work pay
off.”

Eckrich’s brother Andy was right behind the front pair in third. Series point leader Ray Guss Jr. and Mark
Burgtorf rounded out the top five. Terry Neal, winner of the Friday Brodix Silver Anniversary Shootout at Farley,
was sixth.

The only caution of
the contest came for debris on lap three. Bruening caught up with the back of the 24-car Yankee field by lap 17
and built a sizable advantage by midway.

That comfortable
lead disappeared by the final laps as Denny Eckrich gradually reeled the leader back in.

Ray Guss, Jr.
and Joel Callahan at Farley.(Darrel Unzel)

Eckrich tried
inside and was right alongside Bruening the last time around the oval.

“After the first
few laps, I felt we had the car to beat. I’d gone into the race anticipating running around the bottom but after
we got out there that part of the track went away and I ran a higher line,” Bruening said. “I kind of got stuck
in lapped traffic late in the race and he (Eckrich) closed right up on me.”

“I had pushed the
car pretty hard all night,” he added. “After the race we pulled in and took a look at the right rear tire and it
was pretty well gone.”

The top two
finishers from each of five heat races and the top four from both “B” features qualified on
Friday.

Bruening won his
heat race, then topped the dash to earn the pole start.

He’d had 44 Deery
main events start under his belt dating back to 2005 coming into the night. Bruening’s previous career-best
third place showing, at Marshalltown Speedway in May, was among his five top five finishes this
season.

Bruening’s father
Greg, a former Deery regular, is his car owner and crew chief.

Six points separate Guss and Andy Eckrich heading into the Sept. 24-25 series finale at Quad City Speedway in
East Moline, Ill.